Luxurious Off-Grid Floating Hotels for 2022 Qatar World Cup

Sigge Architects has partnered with Global Accommodation Management to propose a series of floating hotels and apartments for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The nation has been worried about accommodating the influx of soccer enthusiasts, and these floating hotels and apartments will help accommodate over 25,000 people in a space-saving and—the designers claim—energy efficient manner.

Sigge Architect’s designs are linked to the mainland by boats and new transit lines in Qatar.  The hotels will be accompanied by luxury apartments and are part of a new island called Oryx Island off the coast of Doha. This new island will be equipped with its own utilities and power, and these new hotel buildings will exist entirely off Qatar’s grid. The hotel will have an independent sewage treatment plant, power generation and recycling possibilities. Designed to be luxurious in nature, the interiors depict modern design with large expansive glass walls to take in the ocean views. The hope and promise is that this island can be repurposed for future events and and can be towed to another location.

Qatar definitely has the resources and money to accomplish these plans. The Barwa Real Estate Company will be developing Oryx Island at a cost of $5.5 million. These floating hotels are a beautiful solutions to the continual need for housing during our melting ice-cap era, though the environmental impact of the hotels is fairly unclear—the island will most likely affect the stability of the marine life, environmental quality, and water quality of the area.